Nevermore
by Beware the Ice
Summary: One year has passed since the defeat of Omega Weapon at the hands of Vincent Valentine. Now Geostigma has returned, those thought dead have begun coming back and liquid all over the Planet has been boiling at alarming rates. Who or what is doing this?
1. Dreaming of You

Feminine mismatched eyes opened as something small and cold crawled into her bed. Tiny feathers tickled her exposed stomach for a moment, reminding her that she needed a new shirt as her current one had gotten far too old. Sharp eyes picked out the movement of a small lump in her bed, blinking when a silver beak and feathered head poked out of her shirt.

"Wark!" the tiny chocobo blinked violet eyes at her, tilting its head to one side and pecking at the necklace that the girl was wearing. The small beak scratched her skin, leaving a cut that bled slowly, but the girl didn't mind that. She liked animals, especially the chocobos.

The birds couldn't tell her that they hated her, and she knew for certain that they liked her. She was the one that fed them every day, and the one that protected them from those damn Midgar Zoloms. Speaking of those, they were frightened of her. The Zoloms remembered her father, and she'd been told that whenever she got angry that she looked and acted just like him. _Like I needed to hear that. I'm not my father, I'm my own person._ She made a face as she thought that.

The little chocobo let out another "Wark!" in annoyance at her ignoring it.

The one mako, one molten golden eyed girl yawned a second time, debating whether to get up or go back to sleep. Her dreams were so much better than reality. "So what happened this time? The other chocobos pick on you again?" she asked, smoothing down a few of the feathers atop the chocobo's head.

The little chocobo dipped its head in a nod, ruffling its feathers indignantly. A gentle smile curved the girl's lips, "Well, you know you're always welcome to share my bed." She whispered, quietly so that she didn't wake anyone else. She didn't need to be yelled at again. Chocobo Billy didn't like her as it was.

"Waaaarrrrrk!" The chocobo lay its head down on her chest, snuggling close to her.

"Goodnight little one." The girl patted the chocobo on its head. Raising her eyes to the sky, looking through a hole in the roof of the chocobo barn, the girl whispered. "Hey dad, now I have a teddy bear too."

***

Crimson eyes slowly opened; a female mouth opening in a yawn. "It has been awhile, Nero." She stood, gathering a red satin blanket around herself. "Your arms are free… what happened?"

The man in question shrugged, placing one hand against the wooden wall. "Whatever. You are needed, Rosso. We have a problem."

Behind him, Rosso could see Azul, Weiss, and Genesis checking their weapons. "We still have a lot of work to do." Genesis looked sideways at the others, grinning suddenly and pushing his red sword into the wall.

Azul set his cannon down, looking at Genesis. "Who are we after?"

Genesis scowled, yanking on his stuck sword. "The girl works at the Chocobo Stables now, and she has eyes like her father…"


	2. I Won't Forget

"Get up!" A masculine voice shouted this into the girl's ear, unaware of the fact that she was already awake and on the verge of hitting him should he yell again. "Get-" He raised his hand to hit her, irked at her refusal to listen to him, her employer.

"I'm up." Her voice, so soft and angry, had Chocobo Billy stumbling backwards as she grabbed the offending hand.

"Finally, Mao. I was trying to get you up for-"

"Don't lie to me Billy. You only just started trying." Mao knelt to pick up her blanket, shaking the straw out of it and folding it with a quick movement.

"I'm your employer!" Chocobo Billy took a step forward, frowning.

"So? I could find another job. If I went to Rufus, he'd probably pay me to stay away from him. I'm only here because I like the chocobos." Mao put one hand out and summoned her sword, the blade she called Shugotenshi. The weapon was a katana, albeit a heavily modified one. Inset into the pommel was a green materia, one that Mao never answered as to what it was; the grip made of dark silver wrapped with mesh; the sword had a basket guard to it, an elaborate pattern that could fool a man into thinking that it was an ornamental weapon up until she used it; the blade itself was normal enough, but for the dark blue hue, the runes inset along the dull edge of the weapon and the dangerous shine of the cutting edge.

"D-don't kill me." Chocobo Billy backpedalled, swallowing hard.

Mao raised one lip in a doglike snarl, rushing forward to leap over Billy and impale a snake-like creature on the blade. She looked down at the small Zolom, scowling at it.

Billy watched her, the Chocobo Farm's owner surprised, as he always was, when the woman elected to protect the chocobos rather than kill him. She could own the farm if she killed him, but she was calm most days which was something he'd never gotten used to despite having been her employer for the past year.

All that power working for him… It was enough to drive any man giddy with the prospects of what he could have her do. It wasn't like there was anyone that could truthfully challenge her.

"You are truly that child." Chocobo Billy said, drawing Mao's attention to him again.

"I am not like that. I'd prefer it if you stopped comparing me to those damn rumors. I am Mao. M-a-o. Got it?" She rose from her crouch, growling slightly.

Billy could only nod, watching as the girl spun around to bring her Shugotenshi to the throat of Chloe. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Some days I'm not so mindful of human presence." Mao let Shugotenshi fade away, looking at Billy with an expectant air.

"…Right, your chores for the day. You need to go pick some more Gashal Greens for the chocobos and go get Chloe's birthday present from Edge. It's waiting in Seventh Heaven. There are… some things there for you too." Chocobo Billy looked off.

"Me?" Mao repeated, positive that she'd heard him wrong.

"Yeah, you've been with us for a year today, I'd have someone else go get them but you're the only stable hand I have, and the best one that I've had for years." Billy tossed a bag of Gil at Mao's feet. "The extra is your pay for the week."

Mao nodded, surprised at the turn of events. "What are we going to do with the little one?" She knelt to pet the tiny silver chocobo on its head.

"Well, if you can feed him, you can keep him."

Mao nodded, a quick smile darting across her features. "Thank you." She grabbed the bag of Gil, made a clucking noise directed at the small chocobo and started walking. "You'll need a name, hmm… Sil?" She looked sideways at the bird, chuckling when the little thing tried to nod and wound up falling. "Come on then, Sil."

Exiting the Stables, Mao's gaze shifted to examine the surface of the swamp. Strangely, it was bubbling and frothing like water in a pot over the fire. _That's wrong_, she thought, pausing and looking closer at the swamp. If it was like that, then it was little wonder why the Zolom had been inside the Stables, but then why had it been so tiny?

As if sensing her probing gaze, the swamp stilled and assumed the look of a normal swamp._Chores first, then I'll check this out after giving Billy Chloe's present._ Mao decided, daydreaming as she made her way to Edge. Seventh Heaven, well, she could only hope that that blonde was out.

He'd tried to explain his motivations for his actions in the past, but what child would ever like the man that looked at them like that them on multiple occasions? Daydreaming gave her an excuse to ignore the fact that many monsters ran away from her and others went out of their way to get closer.

***  
Sunlight? On his face? He'd grown used to the atmosphere of the Lifestream, where the light was almost bio-luminescent and certainly wasn't hot. Violet eyes popped open, their owner flipping to his feet and looking around.

**The Planet is sick…**

The words found their way, unbidden, into the male's mind followed instantly by **Someone is making the Planet sick…** He frowned, looking around at his surroundings, startled. Here was his chance to find out everything that he'd missed. "But that's not what I'm here for, what am I here for?" Running a hand through black hair, Zack noticed a lone female walking to Edge. At her feet a strangely colored chocobo ran and skipped about, always sticking close to her. "She looks like that picture." Zack mused aloud.


	3. The Time We Shared

"Hey!" Zack shouted, waving his arms in the air in an attempt to catch the attention of the stranger. A moment later, it occurred to him that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to draw the woman's attention.

Mao's eyes opened slowly, she glaring sideways at the strange man. She didn't stop moving, instead kept walking. There was some distance she had to walk yet; distractions would only mean that it would take her even longer to reach Edge and that there would be even more of a chance of Cloud Strife being there. She didn't like him, never had and never would. Yeah sure, the entire world called him a hero, but that didn't mean he had the right to act like he had!

"Hey." Zack's voice came from right beside Mao now, the ex-SOLDIER falling into step right next to her.

"What?" Mao glared sideways at him, scowling. Sil let out a "WARRK!" directed at Zack, causing the male to look down at the bird.

"Hi. Do you know the quickest way to Midgar?" Zack's cheer would not be deterred by a glare, definitely not!

Mao stopped, turning to fully face the stranger. _Midgar? Is he some sort of wanna-be treasure hunter? There's nothing there anymore._ Her face remained impassive. "It's just beyond Edge, if you don't mind walking. We don't rent chocobos to treasure hunters so you'll have to walk." She adopted her most professional voice and started walking off again.

"I'm not a treasure hunter! I-"

Mao cut him off "Then what do you want with the Midgar ruins? Most sane people would want to be going to Edge, especially since LOVELESS is playing, yet again."

Zack made an annoyed face, she'd cut him off! How dare she! "Interrupting people is rude!"

"Well then, I guess I'm a rude person." Mao snapped, short tempered.

"That's not nice. I just want to find my friend." Zack's constant cheer had returned.

"Let me guess, Cloud Strife, the World's Hero?" Mao started walking again, mismatched eyes scanning her surroundings.

"How'd you know? I haven't seen Cloud since-"

"Since when? What lie are you going to use, Zack Fair?" Mao picked up Sil, curling the chocobo into her arms.

"How did you know my name?" Zack paused, confused, then jogged to catch up to this strange girl.

"Where I was born, one learned all about you and your fellow First Class SOLDIERs. We were punished if we forgot even the tiniest detail. He… was a stern teacher." Mao quickened her pace; wanting to lose Zack so he wouldn't ask her any more questions. She wasn't too far from Edge now, and the girl broke into a run. _Damn… why'd I say that? Now he has no reason to leave me alone._

Her hair fell into her face, the shiny black strands blocking her vision. "Shit!" She cursed aloud, glancing back to find Zack keeping up with her. With little warning Mao halted, just in time to keep from running into a black chocobo. Zack ran into the bird, but it was sleeping and didn't wake up.

"Hm… I'll get some extra greens for you, don't worry." Mao muttered, looking at Edge. "You'll find Cloud somewhere in there, probably." Mao glared again at Zack.

"Thank you." Zack nodded at Mao and took off running.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Mao relaxed now that Zack was gone, and he hadn't commented on her eyes, good. Pain dug furrows into her stomach, forcing her to drop Sil and double over, clutching at her stomach. Nails dug bloody crescent moons into her palms, a growl of pain escaping Mao before the 'attack' passed.

_So it's back, Geostigma. Damn…_

"Sorry about that Sil. I'll get you some nuts or something to make up for it, I promise." She'd hurt the bird, and that made her feel bad. Funny, how she could be as nasty as she wanted to humans but with animals she couldn't even think about hurting them. Well, that was Mao for ya.

Walking now, Mao resisted the urge (as she always had to) to summon her Shugotenshi as she neared the WRO checkpoint outside the city. Those pansies would freak if she did that though, and she wouldn't be allowed to do her chores.

"What materia do you have on you ma'am?" A rookie, one she'd never seen before, stepped in front of her to ask the question. Ooooh, it was soooo tempting to tell him where he could take those rules and regulations and shove them.

"Same ones as always. Poison, Time, and a Mastered Silence." She never mentioned the other one on her sword, no, that one was a surprise only.

"Well, those are ok, as long as you don't use them ma'am." The rookie looked down at the paper.

Mao brushed past him, unconcerned for the WRO's attempts at security. Just because Kadaj had summoned Bahamut SIN two years ago, that didn't mean that the WRO needed to police everyone. Well, actually it did. But her security was what mattered to her; she could care less about the town itself. Hell, if it and the blonde were destroyed in one fell swoop, that'd be just fine by her.

***  
Zack jogged through the streets, ignoring the stares he got, until he spotted a familiar blonde head of hair. "Cloud!" He yelled, running to tackle-glomp his buddy.

"Hm?" the man turned, blue eyes questioning. Cloud had enough time to blink in surprise before he'd been knocked over by Zack and the taller man's enthusiasm. "Zack?"

"Yep! How ya been?" Zack's ever present grin had a way of challenging the pessimistic thoughts of Cloud.

"Well, I guess. What-?"

Several screams dominated anything else Cloud had to say. A few people ran by them in a manner that had Cloud wriggling from under Zack in order to stand and look protectively around the city.

Directly above him, currently unseen by neither Cloud nor Zack, a man with a single black wing and a cocky grin held his red blade almost diagonal from Cloud's throat…


	4. Because It's Important

Mao **felt** him before she ever saw the man, the sudden throbbing of her arm made her look down as he passed above her, but now she saw him. _Genesis Rhapsodos_… Mao stood, eyes darting to the shadowed entrance of Seventh Heaven, then back to Cloud and Zack. Surely the two would not need her help to ward off Genesis, after all, Zack had done it once before as she heard it. Ignoring the same thing she always had to, Mao began walking towards the bar.

Chores first. Ok, that was a gleeful thought. Maybe Genesis would kill Cloud and the annoying blonde would never bother Mao again. Unfortunately, Genesis was not after Cloud or Zack, but someone else. Mao wouldn't make it to Seventh Heaven, no. Instead when she was merely a few steps away from it, Genesis descended in front of her. _Damnit!_

"Hello." There was no denying the open hostility behind those words, nor the arrogant smirk that was firmly on the man's face.

"I don't have time for whatever you're selling." Mao interjected, stepping around him and entering the bar. She wanted to wipe that damn smirk off his face though, and figured she'd have to sooner or later. Cloud and Zack and been virtually unaware of his presence and still Genesis had chosen to go after her. Did he know?

Whatever, it didn't matter. Chores were first, then dropping off an extra nut or two for that black chocobo, then dropping off the greens and Chloe's presents, then checking out the swamp, then whatever Geni-poo wanted. The order would not be reversed! If he knew, well she'd be forced be end him when his turn came.

Genesis was miffed, she was rude! Spotting a reflection in a broken piece of a mirror, Genesis spun around and brought his blade up to block Cloud's First Tsurugi. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his quarry hop onto a motorbike and speed off. "Damn it!" He cursed aloud, and then spotted Zack. "You're alive? Must be tougher than I thought." Genesis offered a quick, arrogant smile before his wing burst out of his right shoulder. "It'd be fun to stay and chat, but I'm afraid that I have something I have to do now!"

"Genesis! Wait!" Zack lunged for the older man's foot, but Genesis was already too high in the air for Zack to catch him.

"My soul, corrupted by my vengeance…" Genesis's voice trailed behind him, leaving a scowling pair of ex-SOLDIERs behind.

"LOVELESS again?" Zack grumbled.

"Who's he after?" Cloud's query was quick, the blonde already straddling his Fenrir.

"That girl, the one that showed me how to get here. She said something about not renting chocobos to treasure hunters…?" Zack turned to face Cloud; finding the blonde already ready to race off in furious pursuit of Genesis.

"Mao, she's a stable hand at the Stables. Come on!" This last wasn't needed, as Zack was already on the bike and waiting for Cloud bring the motorbike to roaring life. Cloud did, the pair of men racing through the streets with rather reckless driving.

***

Mao brought her 'borrowed' bike to a screeching halt close to the black chocobo. Reaching a hand into her basket, Mao pulled out a few nuts and a small batch of greens so that she could set them down at the feet of the bird. It opened one eye to look at her suspiciously, and then began to peck at the food with what sounded almost like a grateful wark. She smiled quickly then kicked the bike back into gear. The swamp was bubbling again, huge bubbles on the surface bursting with nasty sounding pops. It was worrying Mao, what if more Zoloms fled the obviously scalding swamp?

She knew Genesis was still behind her, because the man wasn't the type to give up very easily. She figured he'd probably trail her until he got what he wanted, which was obviously a confrontation with her. Chances were good that he knew the truth of what she'd labored so hard to keep quiet and at least relatively unknown. Who her parents were. She doubted that even they themselves knew about her. A well kept secret…

Mismatched eyes concentrated on the Stables ahead of her, determined to finish her chores at the very least, and missing the giveaway signs of a summon descending from the sky above the main house.

Genesis's smirk had only widened, now Mao would have no choice but to face him. When his summon destroyed the home of those stinking birds and many of them with it, Mao would likely come at him with the fury he was expecting of her. If she really was that child, then her anger would give her away. If she wasn't, well then, he'd kill her anyway.

Mao's eyes flicked skyward at the sound of a loud 'WARK!'. Now she saw the summon circles and the head of a Bahamut Zero. A glare was directed back in the direction of Genesis, a rumbling growl slithering from between partially parted lips. "You asshole." This was going to have to be over quickly. She'd have to do **that**, the exact thing she hadn't done in at least a year.


	5. We'll Fight Forever

"Tuesti in. What is it?" Pacing back and forth, Reeve eyed his Cait Sith robot. The little black and white cat was laying down, the zipper in its back open and displaying the green and gold inner workings.

"Well, sir. There's been reports of sights of a Bahamut Zero above the Chocobo Stables, and a scan showed signs of not only Geostigma but massive amounts of Mako and a large creature that seems to just have appeared sir." The girl on the other end of the call sounded as if she herself didn't even believe what she was saying.

"Large creatures don't just appear. Are there any Beast Masters out there?" Reeve paused in his movements, glaring at a corner.

"One. A Mao. No last name. She didn't appear on the scan though. Think the creature ate her? I mean Beast Masters are one of the more recent Classes and some of them are really bad with their abilities." Now the girl sounded like she pitied Mao.

"No, I think she is the large creature. Is it a behemoth?" Reeve sat down now, eyeing the dirt and ends of wires under his nails. That was the very last time he'd let his niece play with Cait. She didn't know how to treat it like it was important.

"Yes it is. How did you know?" Curiosity had taken the place of pity.

"Check her records. She's the Behemoth. And she knows the laws about using that ability so close to a city. Bring her in." Reeve was messing with Cait Sith again, disconnecting a wire only to reconnect it again, the line went dead shortly after.

***

Standing protectively over the Chocobo Stables was a massive monster. A behemoth. Silver fur covered every inch of the canine-esque beast, black horns jutting from its forehead and a mane of crimson hair crowning its head. The eyes gave it away as Mao. Roaring at Bahamut again, the beast Mao had become stood its ground.

She could've used her sword, but then she'd have given away her last resort. This, this was something she'd trained to be able to do. The change was painful, and not something very many were able to withstand. She had that man to thank for her pain tolerance.

Genesis scowled, the two beasts were having what amounted to a staring contest with each other. Not what he had wanted. But the silver fur… did that mean she really was what he'd been after? Good then. He could destroy her now, but first he wanted to see if all the muscles she boasted now were really all that dangerous.

Cloud and Zack had arrived in time to see Mao literally erupt into a giant behemoth. "Holy…" Zack stared, turning to look at Cloud.

"She's one of the few Beast Masters. It's a relatively new class of warrior. Most of them can control that, unless they get really angry. They're sort of like the Werechocobos that everyone was afraid of for the longest time." Cloud explained, grabbing First Tsurugi.

"Woah. That's pretty cool, but why a behemoth?" Zack's curiosity knew few bounds, and looking at the beast ahead of them, he figured he needed to know as much as he could.

"They don't get to choose. It's supposedly elected for you based on your tests results. It takes at least four months to become certified and everything. Then you have to report in every few months for a check up. Like the berserkers." Cloud got off Fenrir, watching and waiting.

Neither Bahamut Zero nor Mao had moved more than an inch or two. Mao straddling the chocobo stables and growling a challenge at the summoned creature while Bahamut roared back an answer. A showdown without any use of the muscles that both were known for.

It was Bahamut that broke it first, lunging to sink vicious fangs into Mao's left arm. A roar replaced the growling, Mao trying to dig her horns into some part of Bahamut and pushing against the nigh immovable force that the dangerous summon was. _Protect the chocobos_ then,_Defeat Bahamut_, these two were all that echoed in Mao's mind.

Genesis grinned, finally the battle had begun. Mao stood no chance against the summoned beast, so Bahamut was sure to come out the victor in this conflict. Then Genesis would have no more serious obstacles against his goal. _Except for Zack_… Thinking this, the ex-SOLDIER landed to face Zack, a cocky grin firmly in place once more.

Bahamut had used its grip on Mao's foreleg to toss the Behemoth into the swamp. But the water didn't splash; Mao hit the surprisingly firm surface and slowly began to sink into the dark liquid. Bahamut, its original purpose forgotten, lunged for the downed Behemoth only to roar when one claw touched the boiling liquid of the swamp.

Sil, forgotten up until now, squawked furiously at Bahamut and tapped his little beak against the larger creature's foot in what could have been a try at distraction. It didn't work. It had Bahamut leaning down to grasp Sil in its mouth. But Bahamut didn't get to swallow. A burnt, club like tail was slammed into Bahamut's stomach, Mao dragging her burnt form out of the swamp. The Behemoth snarled again, challenging Bahamut once more.

Yeah, Mao would lose, but at least she would have saved the chocobos and Sil. Bahamut, unfortunately for Mao, had decided that it was done playing around with Mao. Charging it's ultimate attack, Bahamut Zero reared back and let loose a Mega-Flare.


	6. And Never Surrender

Mao was in horrible shape, the Behemoth having fallen to the ground and not moving again after Bahamut's attacks. How could it? That Mega-Flare had been at point blank range, leaving Mao without a chance to even react to it. She'd wanted to rescue the chocobos and Sil, brave little bird that he was, refused to accept Mao's defeat.

Most of the chocobos seemed to refuse to accept that their protector for so very long was lying there and probably dead. The birds felt that they owed her; it was little surprise that a sea of yellow chocobos, followed by their colored counterparts, streamed out of the Stables and surrounded the limp form of their protector.

Bahamut was confused now, and it turned its head to look at the man that had summoned it. But Genesis had fled from the combined assault of Cloud and Zack. So Bahamut was on its own now. The dragon's enemy had been defeated, but now it seemed as if the birds had it in their mind to attempt to defeat Bahamut on their own. Like they could.

Sil squawked angrily, pecking at Bahamut's feet once more. A low, rumbling growl issued from the Swamp, a huge bubble bursting right there.

The dragon looked down at Sil, spotting Mao breathing shallowly. So she had survived… Albeit just barely. She hadn't moved; it was like she was playing dead! The nerve! Bahamut growled in his anger, charging a lesser version of its flare. That would be enough to kill the beast, yes it would.

But by this time Cloud and Zack had approached, and Cloud had taken a running leap at Bahamut and was dragging his First Tsurugi down the summon's spine. Ouch.

Mao's body twisted, contorting back down to the appearance that she normally took. Slices, cuts and burns covered every visible inch of skin, blood oozing from most of them. Her Shugotenshi was naked in her hands; the girl using it to push herself into a standing position. "I knew I wasn't ready for that." She leaned on one of the chocobos, the black one she had fed not too long ago, and concentrated on feeling what she had felt when she had fallen into the Swamp again.

Above, a helicopter waited until the last traces of Bahamut Zero had faded away before landing nearby. "Miss Mao, I have orders to take you in."

"For?" Mao coughed, nearly falling with just the effort it took to keep standing and speak. There was no trace of rudeness or causticity; she simply hurt too much to be mean. The chocobos she hadn't expected, not at all. Yeah, she had been nice and taken care of them, but only because it had been her job to. _No, I can't lie to myself like that. I was nice to them because I like animals, the same reason I wanted to be a Beast Master even though they told me I'd be better as a warrior._

"Use of dangerous abilities close to a city." No one had exited the helicopter, electing to stay inside the machine.

A quick, dangerous smirk conquered Mao's lips before she coughed. "So you people would've rather I had died? Wait, why am I asking you? Of course you would've rather that had happened." She turned Shugotenshi just enough that the blade glistened in the light. "I won't go." Mao bit her lip against a whimper, pain having gotten to her now.

"Ma'am, it would be easier on all of us if you just came quietly." The words didn't quite manage to hide the fact that the speaker was frightened.

"Well, who said I had to make things easier on everyone?" Mao took a step forward, expecting to fall but finding the chocobos pressed so close to her that she was leaning on at least one of them no matter how she moved. "Why can't your **fearless** leader come down and pick me up himself?" Ok, so she wasn't so hurt that she couldn't still be rude.

"Ma'am. Last warning or we'll have to use-"

Anything else that was said to Mao was lost them, pain attacked pain and the girl gave into blissfully numb darkness. She crumpled to the ground now, the chocobos unwilling to part and let anyone close to her.

"Well? Is she the right one?"

"I don't know, Cloud and Zack attacked me. I didn't get a chance to look at the way that she fights. Or her sword for that matter, she went Beast on Bahamut. I'm pretty sure she's dead though." Genesis had his arms crossed over his chest, cyan eyes darting to look at Rosso. "Won't Rosso get dressed already?" He grumped.

"What's the matter? Don't like how she looks brother?" Wiess turned to look at Genesis.  
"It's not that. It's-" Genesis retorted.

"We have a reading, Mao's surfaced again. She's in the WRO headquarters now." Shelke announced, looking back at the others. "Hurry up, you people have a promise with me to keep."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll awaken Shalua when that child is dead. Can you confirm whether Mao is the right one or not?" Nero stretched; unsurprised at the amount of space the others gave him.

"It's doubtful. The one we're after has silver hair. Mao's hair is black."

"Her fur was silver when she went Beast." Genesis added in.

"Then it's possible." Shelke stood.

"I'll go." Azul declared, hefting his cannon. "Genesis said she was a Behemoth, so it'll be amusing to force her to go Beast against me…"

"Kill her." Genesis grinned at the thought of Mao's death. Teach her to be rude.


	7. We Have Lives On The Line

"'S not my fault! They kicked the cat!"

"Yeah, yeah. You could have ignored them. You are so stupid."

"Meanie!"

It was the sound of arguing that woke a sore and grumpy Mao. Her head was resting on soft feathers, chocobo feathers to be exact. "Oww." Mao sat up, rubbing her head. Or well, she would have if her hands hadn't been bound together with at least five pairs of handcuffs. "What the-"

"Handcuffs. You're a dangerous person." The guard at her door looked back at her.

Mao looked up at the man. "Who the hell are you?" Standing up, Mao expected to feel pain attacking her and scowled when it failed to.

"Obviously the guard that's making sure you don't try to escape here. Oh, and they used a Restore Materia on you, so you wouldn't die before we got here."

Now Mao recognized him, the rookie she'd met earlier. "So I'm in jail because I protected myself and the chocobos?" She advanced with an angry glint in her eyes.

"No," this tone was different and Mao drew herself up to her full 5'7'' height, which was pretty short compared to the giant she saw down the hall. Blue hair and… a cannon in his hands! "You are here to answer some questions, then die."

Mismatched eyes narrowed, Mao holding her hands out just enough that summoning her Shugotenshi wouldn't cut her, the girl blew a few errant black strands out of her face and got as close to the bars as she could. "Azul is it?" Mao inquired, gaze flashing down to her blade before returning to look at the now empty spot. "Guess Mother told me right then."

"M-mother?" the guard stuttered, then started pressing the button on his belt with an urgent air. "We may have a disguised Remnant down here! Someone hurry!"

Mao snickered. "Jenova? Oh no, not her. I meant the woman that gave birth to me. God you idiots are trigger happy eh? Want to start a global panic?" Mao smirked at the poor rookie, her attitude firmly in place now that she knew she was healed.

"See? I could've said that there was nothing to worry about. You idiotic rookie." A smooth voice now intruded, Tseng following his words. "She looks nothing like a Remnant; her eyes are wrong and so is her hair. And she's right handed. Sephiroth and all of the Remnants were predominantly left handed." The leader of the Turks crossed his arms over his chest.

"B-but-" the poor rookie looked to be having a fit now, jumping around and pointing at the spot where Azul had been. "She was talking to that empty space, and then she mentioned her mother…"

"Everyone has a mother dude. Now when am I getting let out?" The first voice from the argument earlier interjected, impatient.

"You'll have your turn surfer. Miss Mao, what is this, the fifth time this month?" Tseng scowled.

"Seventh, Tseng. I can't stay away, you and your toy soldiers are soo adorable." Mao grinned.

Tseng frowned. "Stop calling my Turks that. Kissa, it's your turn to interrogate her." Tseng turned behind him, looking pointedly at a slender girl.

"Aww. But my book was just getting good." Kissa whined, pouting.

"Job first newbie." Reno chuckled, glad that the job hadn't yet fallen on him. He thought Mao was hiding something, and the last time he'd just talked to her he'd wound up setting several things on fire. "That was fun though…" Reno muttered, a far off look in his eyes.

"Don't you even think about it Reno. I'll fire you." Tseng threatened, recognizing the almost psychotic glint in the red head's eyes.

"Aww…" Reno pouted and slunk off, frowning.

Kissa took a deep breath before stepping closer to the bars of Mao's cell. Well, cage. It was a really big cage, large enough to hold Mao if she went Beast in a fit of anger. They'd learned last time she'd been here. Cells simply were not enough because the Behemoth-girl managed to burst out of them or break the bars.

"Frightened are you?" Mao taunted. "You're new, so they're going to stick you with all the crap jobs. Including talking to me." She was merciless, a cocky grin dominating her features.

"N-no. I was just enjoying my book!" Kissa retorted, stepping forward with a flash of anger.

Mao started laughing, tapping her Shugotenshi against the bars. "What's it called?" The girl grinned, spotting a flash of blue quickly moving closer.

"Monster of the Bell Tower." Kissa held up the book. "I've only got a chapter left before I'm done with it."

"At the end the 'monster' is revealed to be nothing but a man whose only mistake was who he was born to. He gets lynched in the final paragraph." Mao grinned as Kissa's face fell.

"Not fair! I was almost done!" Kissa threw the book at Mao, watching as it hit the bars then fell to the ground. Her shoulders slumped as she pouted at Mao. "You didn't have to do that you know."

"Ah, but you see toy soldier, I wanted to. Now hurry up and get this dumb interview over. I have things to do." Mao scowled, inspecting her Shugotenshi and looking up at the bars with a calculating air. Somehow Azul had managed to not get spotted yet, but that wouldn't matter soon anyway.

Kissa drew herself all the way up. "No. I'm going to make you sit there all alone today of all days. It's a holiday, the Victory Day." Kissa meant the anniversary of the day that Meteor had been stopped.

"It's not like I have a family or anyone special to celebrate it with, sitting here all day won't hurt me a bit." Mao snapped, glaring at Kissa with hate.

Kissa gulped. "I heard about that anyway. So here," Kissa unlocked the cage door and unlocked each of the pairs of handcuffs. "Go celebrate somewhere. If nothing else, my phone number is on here. I can come celebrate with y-"

"Don't bother. I'm just going to get out of town and vanish anyway." Mao pushed past Kissa without even a thank you.

"Get back here!" Azul's voice rang out now, the heavy man lurching into a run. His prey would not get away!

Mismatched eyes glanced back, then looked forward as Mao started running from the Tsviet.


	8. And Someone Relies on Me

Shugotenshi was allowed to disperse, Mao listening to the pounding of her boots on the ground as she ran. Fleeing? Hell no, she was getting somewhere that was a better place for her to deal with him. Her mother had known Azul for a long time, time enough to know about the Arch Azul form the giant man had. _Father… I miss you._ The thought intruded in the caustic woman's mind, causing her to miss a step and stumble, nearly falling. Mismatched eyes flashed to the parade that was making its way down the street, water gathering in the corners of them as she fondly recalled her father lifting her up on his shoulders so that she could see the form of a trained dragon flying through the air. "No time for that." She muttered, running a hand through her hair and ducking into the crowd.

Azul's eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Mao. She had to be that child! There was no other way she'd have known his name, was there? He thought about the missing Tsviet: Argento the Silver. That woman had vanished long before the incident with Vincent, but what if she had told Mao about him? That would explain her fleeing while he had been told by Shelke that the girl was a ruthless and skilled fighter. But where was she? The crowd wasn't giving him an inch to maneuver in, and now he heard WRO soldiers yelling at him and calling for backup. "Where the hell is she?"

Mao stopped running, blending in with the crowd as best she could. _Running? Why the hell do I care what damage is done here? Not like they care what damage is done to me…_ With sudden clarity she remembered part of a lullaby her mother had often sung to her. A grin claimed Mao's lips, if she couldn't enjoy today why should anyone else? Summoning Shugotenshi, Mao slipped into a building.

Something pricked Azul in the arm; he glared at the knife a soldier had used to stab him. Swinging a giant hand, Azul sent the man flying backwards several feet. Hoisting his cannon, Azul resumed looking for Mao. "Come on you little girl. It won't hurt long!" Azul shouted, randomly firing his cannon into a building.

"More than I can say for you. Idiot. The first rule of surprise is to remain unseen and unnoticed until you launch your offensive." Mao shot back, sitting atop the building she'd slipped into. It was empty, as far as she knew, and now people edged away from it. "So, what did you say I was there for again?" She was cocky again, which was probably a very bad thing. The past year all she'd fought were the Zoloms and the odd chocobo predators, and she'd lost to Bahamut. But sometimes half the battle was won if one managed to unnerve their enemy.

"To die." Azul challenged, swinging his cannon about to fire at the building that Mao was perched on.

The building exploded, rocks and debris scattering all over. Mao dropped with the piece of the building she'd been sitting on, going Beast as she fell. It hurt, doing that again so soon, but she had little choice. Landing on all fours, the behemoth roared at Azul before turning away. Mao ran through the edges of Edge, escaping the city in hopes of drawing Azul far away. If she could do that, then she'd be able to let loose and destroy him, after getting a few answers. Her tail was held up above her, so that she knew it wouldn't knock into any of the people outside to see the parade, but she made sure to step on the float that depicted Meteor. It was the most important ones anyway, so that was all the damage she'd be directly responsible for.

Midgar would be a good choice for a battlefield, only the odd treasure hunter was there as far as she knew, and therefore it was unlikely there would be any type of distractions. As a behemoth, it would take less time than it normally would, and no monster would willingly attempt to attack her. It was bad for Azul that the WRO had used a restore on her, a Mastered one it felt like. Changing her mind, Mao stopped and turned to wait for Azul to catch up.

"Giving in already?" Azul growled, standing just out of easy reach of Mao.

"Never, just waiting for you to catch up. Go on, go Arch Azul for me." Mao had to twist her tongue in order to make the speech understandable. It was hard to talk as a behemoth! Her laughter came out as more of a rolling growl, but that worked well enough for her. A grin was recognizable, the action baring each and every last one of her fangs.

"You asked for it." Azul warned, dropping his cannon as he complied with Mao's request.

"Hah! I'll snap you like a twig!" Mao lunged, her right paw coming in an attack on Azul's face. The smaller behemoth ducked, biting the edge of Mao's paw and refusing to let go. That worked well enough for Mao, as she swung around to bring her club of a tail crashing into Azul's side, but he still didn't let go.

In the distance, something silver flashed in the air, but the two behemoth's attentions were centered on each other and both fighters missed it.

Mismatched eyes narrowed, Mao letting out a roar when Azul's claws racked down her left eye. Everything on her left side darkened to the point that she could no longer see out of it. But that was of no importance right now. Right now, all that mattered was the thrill of the fight. Mao had been sooo bored the past year, and besides that loss to Bahamut had been nothing but a fluke and Mao had to prove that, mostly to herself of course. When Azul moved to the left side seeking to take advantage of Mao's difficulty seeing through that side, Mao growled in anger at his pretentiousness. The larger behemoth would then take enough steps backward so that Azul was back in her field of vision. Now the girl became aware of pain stabbing through her right paw each time she stepped on it.

It hurt, and in the back of her mind Mao knew she was going to lose again, she just refused to acknowledge it. She was a prideful girl, and better than anyone knew, just really out of practice. Her latest fight (aside from Bahamut and that loss simply didn't count) was a year and a half ago, against a fully grown Midgar Zolom.

Defiantly, Mao roared in Azul's face, refusing to accept exactly how weak she was. Her father was… **him** anyway. She just didn't want to completely let loose because she feared _**that**_. She wouldn't even think the name, let alone say it aloud. Pain dug claws into her side again, but it wasn't Azul. It was Geostigma again. Mao knew that was one fight she would almost certainly lose. But not this one.

The smaller behemoth lunged at Mao again, teeth fastening in her right paw once more while the girl was distracted. He knew the basics of being a Beast Master as she was, and having gone Beast again so soon had to be painful. When that was understood through Azul's rabid desire for a good fight, he bit down harder before yanking backward and letting go. "Rest up. I'll find you when you're 100% not weak like this. Mao." Azul grumbled, the massive man now only that, and turned away.

"Get back here. I'm not done with you." Mao snapped, letting her Beast dissolve. Not that she had much choice in that matter.

"Too bad. I'm done with you." Let it never be said that Azul was taking pity on the girl, he only wanted her to be able to give him her all in their fight. Easy wins were boring.

Mao clenched her left hand, looking down at her bloody right hand and glaring at Azul's back. He'd regret this, leaving her alive now. Oh yes, yes he would.

"Mao?" Someone said from behind her.


End file.
